David Bohrman, the veteran news producer and executive who worked for ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Current TV, and most notably CNN, has died. He was 69.
Bohrman died Sunday after complications with hip surgery, his family told CNN.
Famed as a news innovator, Bohrman created dozens of programs over a career that spanned six decades and was widely credited with introducing cutting-edge technology into news broadcasts including interactive video walls, 3D holograms and real-time visualizations. Among the many news programs he created for CNN included State of the Union, Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, MoneyLine News Hour with Lou Dobbs and NewsNight with Aaron Brown.
Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, Bohrman was the son of Delle, a television writer and Stan, a TV news anchor on CBS Kpix in San Francisco. Stan Bohrman made his mark in television news through Kpix’s use of “Instant Eye” feature, the at-the-time...
Bohrman died Sunday after complications with hip surgery, his family told CNN.
Famed as a news innovator, Bohrman created dozens of programs over a career that spanned six decades and was widely credited with introducing cutting-edge technology into news broadcasts including interactive video walls, 3D holograms and real-time visualizations. Among the many news programs he created for CNN included State of the Union, Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, MoneyLine News Hour with Lou Dobbs and NewsNight with Aaron Brown.
Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, Bohrman was the son of Delle, a television writer and Stan, a TV news anchor on CBS Kpix in San Francisco. Stan Bohrman made his mark in television news through Kpix’s use of “Instant Eye” feature, the at-the-time...
- 6/26/2023
- by Abid Rahman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 2010, David Fincher set the template for modern tech biopic with “The Social Network,” delivering a rapid-fire seriocomic portrait of young entrepreneurship at the dawn of the 21st century. It cost $40 million. Last year, filmmaker Matt Johnson made “BlackBerry,” a biopic about the rise and fall of the eccentric characters behind the outdated mobile phone. It cost $5 million.
“The amount of money that gets spent on making a movie is completely mind-boggling to me,” Johnson told IndieWire over Zoom. “We were pretty clear from the beginning we would make something on the scale we prefer.”
That ethos was established 10 years ago, when the Canadian director made the buzzy found footage movie “The Dirties,” in which Johnson starred as an aspiring filmmaker who morphs into a high school shooter. The $10,000 movie manages a tricky balance between satirizing its character’s cinematic aspirations and the looming alienation that drives him to a horrific extreme.
“The amount of money that gets spent on making a movie is completely mind-boggling to me,” Johnson told IndieWire over Zoom. “We were pretty clear from the beginning we would make something on the scale we prefer.”
That ethos was established 10 years ago, when the Canadian director made the buzzy found footage movie “The Dirties,” in which Johnson starred as an aspiring filmmaker who morphs into a high school shooter. The $10,000 movie manages a tricky balance between satirizing its character’s cinematic aspirations and the looming alienation that drives him to a horrific extreme.
- 5/10/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
“Murf the Surf,” a four-part docuseries, based on the infamous jewel thief Jack Roland Murphy, will premiere February 5, 2023 on MGM+. It’s written and directed by two-time Emmy winner R.J. Cutler and executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
At a recent screening for the documentary held at The Aster in Los Angeles, Cutler spoke with Deadline’s Matt Carey about the project. “I got a call asking if I had seen an article written in the New York Times,” the director explained. “It was tied to the renovation that was going on to the Museum of Natural History in New York. It told the story of this jewel heist that had taken place in the 1960s, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination. These surfer-dude jewel thieves had captured the public imagination and became nightly news fodder. Americans gathered around the TV to see what was going on with the case.
At a recent screening for the documentary held at The Aster in Los Angeles, Cutler spoke with Deadline’s Matt Carey about the project. “I got a call asking if I had seen an article written in the New York Times,” the director explained. “It was tied to the renovation that was going on to the Museum of Natural History in New York. It told the story of this jewel heist that had taken place in the 1960s, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination. These surfer-dude jewel thieves had captured the public imagination and became nightly news fodder. Americans gathered around the TV to see what was going on with the case.
- 2/1/2023
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Mike Prall, Emily Katz to work closely with founder and CEO Jenifer Westphal, president Joe Plummer.
New York-based studio Wavelength, whose credits include Cusp, Athlete A, and The Cave Of Adullam, has hired Mike Prall as head of studios, Emily Katz as head of development.
The executives will be based in New York and arrive at a busy time as the company prepares to open its first international office in London following partnerships with international producers on seven of its 2022 films including Aisha, Radical Dreamer, and The Last Year Of Darkness.
Prall and Katz will work closely with Wavelength founder,...
New York-based studio Wavelength, whose credits include Cusp, Athlete A, and The Cave Of Adullam, has hired Mike Prall as head of studios, Emily Katz as head of development.
The executives will be based in New York and arrive at a busy time as the company prepares to open its first international office in London following partnerships with international producers on seven of its 2022 films including Aisha, Radical Dreamer, and The Last Year Of Darkness.
Prall and Katz will work closely with Wavelength founder,...
- 1/30/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
‘Theater Camp’ Review: Song, Dance, and an Adorable and Clever New Entry Into the Mockumentary Canon
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures releases the film in theaters on Friday, July 14.
Real summer camp buffs have this saying: “10 for 2,” meaning they spend 10 months out of the year looking forward to the two they will spend at summer camp. For some people, summer camp is their true home, the one place they can really be themselves, a treat that makes the real world bearable. For the kids (and adults) of Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s charming and hilarious “Theater Camp,” it’s also a place where they can hone their craft without the prying eyes of the decidedly non-theatrical in their lives.
Cleverly conceived of as a mockumentary, “Theater Camp” picks up as our unnamed (and unseen) filmmakers are just a day into production. Their plan: follow a summer at “AdirondACTS,” an upstate New York theater camp run...
Real summer camp buffs have this saying: “10 for 2,” meaning they spend 10 months out of the year looking forward to the two they will spend at summer camp. For some people, summer camp is their true home, the one place they can really be themselves, a treat that makes the real world bearable. For the kids (and adults) of Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s charming and hilarious “Theater Camp,” it’s also a place where they can hone their craft without the prying eyes of the decidedly non-theatrical in their lives.
Cleverly conceived of as a mockumentary, “Theater Camp” picks up as our unnamed (and unseen) filmmakers are just a day into production. Their plan: follow a summer at “AdirondACTS,” an upstate New York theater camp run...
- 1/22/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: WME has signed filmmaker R.J. Cutler and his production company This Machine, fresh off the announcement of Cutler’s upcoming documentary on Elton John.
“The agency will work with the award-winning filmmaker – who has made some of the most significant documentaries and television series of the past quarter century – in all areas,” according to Cutler’s PR reps.
Deadline broke the news last week that Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ won the rights to the Elton John feature, to be co-directed by Cutler and John’s life partner David Furnish, in a deal pegged at around 30 million. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend will include concert performances spanning 50 years, as well as the recording artist’s journals and contemporary footage of his family.
Over the course of a 30-year career,...
“The agency will work with the award-winning filmmaker – who has made some of the most significant documentaries and television series of the past quarter century – in all areas,” according to Cutler’s PR reps.
Deadline broke the news last week that Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ won the rights to the Elton John feature, to be co-directed by Cutler and John’s life partner David Furnish, in a deal pegged at around 30 million. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend will include concert performances spanning 50 years, as well as the recording artist’s journals and contemporary footage of his family.
Over the course of a 30-year career,...
- 5/24/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ announced today the feature documentary “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and The Years That Made His Legend.” From Academy Award-nominee R.J. Cutler and filmmaker David Furnish, the documentary will serve as the official feature on Elton John, comprised of unseen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family. Following a robust festival run and limited theatrical release, the film will be available exclusively on Disney+.
Rooted in Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” the feature documentary film will capture Elton John’s final months on the road, culminating in what promises to be one of the greatest send-offs in rock-and-roll history when John performs his final North American show at Dodger Stadium this upcoming November. The film will also look back at the extraordinary first five years of John’s career when,...
Rooted in Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” the feature documentary film will capture Elton John’s final months on the road, culminating in what promises to be one of the greatest send-offs in rock-and-roll history when John performs his final North American show at Dodger Stadium this upcoming November. The film will also look back at the extraordinary first five years of John’s career when,...
- 5/18/2022
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Exclusive: Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ have won the rights to a big feature documentary package, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend. No one would comment, but we hear the docu, from Academy Award-nominee R.J. Cutler as well as filmmaker (and longtime Elton John partner) David Furnish, sold for about 30 million.
Designed to serve as the official feature on Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is comprised of unseen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family. The plan for the project is to get a festival run and limited theatrical release and be made available exclusively on Disney+.
At the heart of the documentary is Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour” as the film will capture Elton John’s final months on the road, culminating in his...
Designed to serve as the official feature on Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is comprised of unseen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family. The plan for the project is to get a festival run and limited theatrical release and be made available exclusively on Disney+.
At the heart of the documentary is Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour” as the film will capture Elton John’s final months on the road, culminating in his...
- 5/18/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
This Machine, the production company founded by veteran documentary director and producer R.J. Cutler, has bolstered its development and production team with four new hires.
Cutler, the Emmy Award-winning director behind docus including “The September Issue,” “Belushi” and most recently with “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” launched This Machine in 2020 with an investment from Los Angeles-based Industrial Media.
Cutler has named Sally Rosen Phillips as vice president, creative; Qadriyyah Shamsid-Deen as director, creative; Jim Czarnecki, senior vice president, production, and Ian Egos, vice president. The four new hires bring This Machine’s employee headcount to 20. Rosen Phillips, Shamsid-Deen, Czarnecki and Egos join senior executives Elise Pearlstein, Trevor Smith, Margaret Yen and Katie Doering.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Sally, Qadriyyah, Jim and Ian — four truly creative and passionate individuals — to our rapidly growing team at This Machine,” says Cutler, who served as a producer on Chris Hegedus and...
Cutler, the Emmy Award-winning director behind docus including “The September Issue,” “Belushi” and most recently with “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” launched This Machine in 2020 with an investment from Los Angeles-based Industrial Media.
Cutler has named Sally Rosen Phillips as vice president, creative; Qadriyyah Shamsid-Deen as director, creative; Jim Czarnecki, senior vice president, production, and Ian Egos, vice president. The four new hires bring This Machine’s employee headcount to 20. Rosen Phillips, Shamsid-Deen, Czarnecki and Egos join senior executives Elise Pearlstein, Trevor Smith, Margaret Yen and Katie Doering.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Sally, Qadriyyah, Jim and Ian — four truly creative and passionate individuals — to our rapidly growing team at This Machine,” says Cutler, who served as a producer on Chris Hegedus and...
- 4/18/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
“The Quiet Epidemic,” a feature documentary about the tick-borne illness Lyme Disease, has released its trailer ahead of the film’s premiere in the Special Presentations category at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto on May 2.
The film is co-directed by Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch, and the producers are Chris Hegedus, who was Oscar nominated with D.A. Pennebaker for “The War Room,” and Daria Lombroso, whose credits include “Most Likely to Succeed.”
Keys and Crane-Murdoch met through their Lyme Disease doctor’s office in 2015. “The Quiet Epidemic” results from their seven-year effort to reveal the truth about the illness, which strikes more than 500,000 people each year in the U.S. alone. Some 10-20 of those who receive a diagnosis and treatment remain sick after treatment. The filmmakers disclose new medical data and scientific discoveries, most of which – the filmmakers allege – have been denied or misinterpreted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America,...
The film is co-directed by Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch, and the producers are Chris Hegedus, who was Oscar nominated with D.A. Pennebaker for “The War Room,” and Daria Lombroso, whose credits include “Most Likely to Succeed.”
Keys and Crane-Murdoch met through their Lyme Disease doctor’s office in 2015. “The Quiet Epidemic” results from their seven-year effort to reveal the truth about the illness, which strikes more than 500,000 people each year in the U.S. alone. Some 10-20 of those who receive a diagnosis and treatment remain sick after treatment. The filmmakers disclose new medical data and scientific discoveries, most of which – the filmmakers allege – have been denied or misinterpreted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America,...
- 4/18/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Award-winning documentary editor Lindsay Utz is turning her attention to directing.
Utz, who edited 2020 Academy Award winner American Factory and this year’s Oscar contender Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, has signed a first-look deal with This Machine to direct her own documentary films. This Machine, an Industrial Media company, is headed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, who directed the Billie Eilish doc.
Utz’s credits include cutting Miss Americana, the 2020 film about Taylor Swift, Bully (2011), and Quest, a 2017 doc that earned her the Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing. She has earned a pair of Primetime Emmy nominations, for her work on American Factory and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.
Cutler’s many credits include directing the 2020 documentary Belushi, The September Issue (2009), The World According to Dick Cheney (2013), and producing the seminal 1993 documentary The War Room, about Bill Clinton’s run for president.
Utz, who edited 2020 Academy Award winner American Factory and this year’s Oscar contender Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, has signed a first-look deal with This Machine to direct her own documentary films. This Machine, an Industrial Media company, is headed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, who directed the Billie Eilish doc.
Utz’s credits include cutting Miss Americana, the 2020 film about Taylor Swift, Bully (2011), and Quest, a 2017 doc that earned her the Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing. She has earned a pair of Primetime Emmy nominations, for her work on American Factory and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.
Cutler’s many credits include directing the 2020 documentary Belushi, The September Issue (2009), The World According to Dick Cheney (2013), and producing the seminal 1993 documentary The War Room, about Bill Clinton’s run for president.
- 12/8/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
It was the fall of 2019, and 17-year-old Billie Eilish was at one of the lowest moments of her very enchanted life so far. Six months earlier, the Soundcloud supernova had exploded into a major recording artist with the release of the double platinum debut album that she and her older brother Finneas had recorded together in his childhood bedroom. Six months later, that same LP would see her become the youngest artist to ever sweep the Grammys. But for a minute in the middle there, she was just another teenager who felt betrayed and ashamed by a world that had been waiting to slip through the slightest crack in her armor.
For starters, Eilish had just suffered her first major breakup. And while touring allowed her to sublimate that hurt into serrated electro ballads while thousands of other teenagers sang along in full-throated support — the crowds helping to diffuse Eilish...
For starters, Eilish had just suffered her first major breakup. And while touring allowed her to sublimate that hurt into serrated electro ballads while thousands of other teenagers sang along in full-throated support — the crowds helping to diffuse Eilish...
- 12/1/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The bracingly intimate feel of the documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry emerged because the pop singer at its center grew to trust the filmmakers enough to reveal her private pain on her own terms, the film’s director revealed.
“We achieved the intimacy because Billie and her family were open and available and wanted to tell their story,” R.J. Cutler said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event. He said he spend a year and a half building a relationship with Eilish’s inner circle. “We develop trust and we engage with them in the in the verité process, and the verité process fundamentally understands that the story belongs to the subject. Our only desire is to see what’s happening and to experience Billie’s life and to be able to tell that story when it’s done.”
“Over time, trust develops, you connect with...
“We achieved the intimacy because Billie and her family were open and available and wanted to tell their story,” R.J. Cutler said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event. He said he spend a year and a half building a relationship with Eilish’s inner circle. “We develop trust and we engage with them in the in the verité process, and the verité process fundamentally understands that the story belongs to the subject. Our only desire is to see what’s happening and to experience Billie’s life and to be able to tell that story when it’s done.”
“Over time, trust develops, you connect with...
- 11/21/2021
- by Scott Huver
- Deadline Film + TV
An array of the most acclaimed documentaries of the last 50 years bear the stamp of one singular talent: Joan Churchill, filmmaker and cinematographer.
Her first credit, in 1970, came as a camera operator on Gimme Shelter, the classic documentary about the Rolling Stones at Altamont directed by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin. She’s been shooting films ever since, including Jimi at Berkeley (1971); Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987); Kurt & Courtney (1998); Biggie & Tupac (2002); Shut Up & Sing, the 2006 doc about the Dixie Chicks, and the Oscar-nominated Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
She also co-directed a number of award-winning films with her former husband Nick Broomfield, including Soldier Girls (1981); Lily Tomlin (1986); Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), and 2011’s Sarah Palin: You Betcha!
In honor of her career in cinema, Churchill is being recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Doc NYC, the country’s largest all-documentary festival, which opens today.
Her first credit, in 1970, came as a camera operator on Gimme Shelter, the classic documentary about the Rolling Stones at Altamont directed by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin. She’s been shooting films ever since, including Jimi at Berkeley (1971); Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987); Kurt & Courtney (1998); Biggie & Tupac (2002); Shut Up & Sing, the 2006 doc about the Dixie Chicks, and the Oscar-nominated Last Days in Vietnam (2014).
She also co-directed a number of award-winning films with her former husband Nick Broomfield, including Soldier Girls (1981); Lily Tomlin (1986); Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), and 2011’s Sarah Palin: You Betcha!
In honor of her career in cinema, Churchill is being recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Doc NYC, the country’s largest all-documentary festival, which opens today.
- 11/11/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Before Netflix had grown into a world-conquering streaming giant, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” director R.J. Cutler would routinely bump into the company’s co-ceo Ted Sarandos on the film festival circuit. Netflix was still a DVD-by-mail rental service at the time, and Sarandos confided to him that “The War Room” – Cutler’s Oscar-nominated Bill Clinton campaign doc – was among its most popular rentals.
Flash forward a few years, and the streaming-fueled boom in documentary filmmaking didn’t seem so far-fetched to Cutler. “It made complete sense to me that when Netflix transformed to a streaming service, and then began producing original content, the audience’s passion for nonfiction would continue to form a key element of the streamer’s success,” he said. “If it works on Netflix, that meant it would work on Amazon, Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, Discovery Plus, Peacock and others.
Flash forward a few years, and the streaming-fueled boom in documentary filmmaking didn’t seem so far-fetched to Cutler. “It made complete sense to me that when Netflix transformed to a streaming service, and then began producing original content, the audience’s passion for nonfiction would continue to form a key element of the streamer’s success,” he said. “If it works on Netflix, that meant it would work on Amazon, Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, Discovery Plus, Peacock and others.
- 10/16/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler will be presented with the Pennebaker Award at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, honoring lifetime achievement, the Critics Choice Association announced Thursday.
The presentation will take place Sunday, November 14, as part of the sixth annual edition of the documentary awards show, at Bric in Brooklyn. During the event the Critics Choice group will hand out a slew of competitive awards, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director and Best First Documentary Feature.
“Throughout his distinguished career, R.J. Cutler has created category-defining films and television series, and we are honored to have him as our recipient of this prestigious award,” Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin said. “With his work as a documentarian beginning as a producer of D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’ landmark 1993 film, The War Room, that collaboration serves as a link between generations, and R.J. has continued to honor Penny’s pioneering legacy...
The presentation will take place Sunday, November 14, as part of the sixth annual edition of the documentary awards show, at Bric in Brooklyn. During the event the Critics Choice group will hand out a slew of competitive awards, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director and Best First Documentary Feature.
“Throughout his distinguished career, R.J. Cutler has created category-defining films and television series, and we are honored to have him as our recipient of this prestigious award,” Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin said. “With his work as a documentarian beginning as a producer of D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’ landmark 1993 film, The War Room, that collaboration serves as a link between generations, and R.J. has continued to honor Penny’s pioneering legacy...
- 9/30/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s batch of Emmy nominated filmmakers for both documentary and nonfiction encompass a wide spectrum that include veterans who have greatly influenced the genre and younger creatives getting their first dose of wide exposure. In getting to talk with them, it was incredible to hear them not only talk about the works that influenced their decision to go into nonfiction storytelling, but also the nonfiction works that have stood out to them in more recent years. Gold Derby recently had these discussions with Kirby Dick (“Allen v. Farrow”), Amanda McBaine (“Boys State”), Steve James (“City So Real”), Tom Campbell (“RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked”) and Jeff Orlowski (“The Social Dilemma”) during our recent “Meet the Experts” panel.
You can watch the documentary and nonfiction group panel above with these five creative helmers. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to their individual interview.
See Watch...
You can watch the documentary and nonfiction group panel above with these five creative helmers. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to their individual interview.
See Watch...
- 8/10/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Netflix has ordered a documentary series based on Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, the new Henry Holt book by Time Magazine correspondent Jamie Ducharme. Series will be directed and executive produced by R.J. Cutler, who’s coming off the Showtime docu Belushi and Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry for Apple TV+ and Neon.
Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will be exec producers for Amblin Television, alongside Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith for This Machine, and Ian Orefice and Rebecca Teitel for Time Studios.
Amblin optioned the book last year and Cutler came aboard in February. Series will chronicle the rise of Juul from a scrappy tech start-up to a multibillion-dollar tobacco company that at one point controlled 72% of the market. This will be no puff piece: Juul’s rise, and the high nicotine concentration and flavored products, helped spark what top health authorities labeled an epidemic of youth addiction.
Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will be exec producers for Amblin Television, alongside Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith for This Machine, and Ian Orefice and Rebecca Teitel for Time Studios.
Amblin optioned the book last year and Cutler came aboard in February. Series will chronicle the rise of Juul from a scrappy tech start-up to a multibillion-dollar tobacco company that at one point controlled 72% of the market. This will be no puff piece: Juul’s rise, and the high nicotine concentration and flavored products, helped spark what top health authorities labeled an epidemic of youth addiction.
- 6/17/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Epix has landed Murf the Surf, the four-part docuseries from Imagine Documentaries and R.J. Cutler’s This Machine, about the famed jewel thief Jack Roland Murphy. Cutler, the two-time Emmy winner who’s coming off the docus Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and Belushi, wrote and directed the series.
Epix has greenlit the true crime saga, which gets up and close and personal with America’s most infamous jewel thief. Cutler’s producing with his longtime producing partner Trevor Smith along with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein for Imagine and Elise Pearlstein for This Machine, which is an Industrial Media Company.
Murphy has the exploits to fit four episodes. His most infamous credit was an epic jewel heist of the Museum of Natural History, the biggest in New York history. It was masterminded by a band of suave “surfer dudes” from...
Epix has greenlit the true crime saga, which gets up and close and personal with America’s most infamous jewel thief. Cutler’s producing with his longtime producing partner Trevor Smith along with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein for Imagine and Elise Pearlstein for This Machine, which is an Industrial Media Company.
Murphy has the exploits to fit four episodes. His most infamous credit was an epic jewel heist of the Museum of Natural History, the biggest in New York history. It was masterminded by a band of suave “surfer dudes” from...
- 6/9/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul McCartney once told a Liverpool High School class that when it comes to songwriting, “‘I don’t know how to do this.”
Of course, that’s only because songwriting comes so natural to him.
While deconstructing songwriting might be a challenge to the great Beatle, sometimes there’s a lot to learn simply by watching the greats do it.
And that’s the biggest takeaway in R.J. Cutler’s AppleTV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry: Watching how the 7x Grammy winner and her producer/songwriting brother Finneas O’Connell, also a 6x Grammy winner, tick, producing a mindblowing sonic sound straight from their messy, Angelino recording studio bedroom.
Cutler turns the camera on, and the feeling is that we’re getting an honest take on this edgy performer on her upward rocketship; she’s got nothing to hide as she ultimately reveals something tragic about her...
Of course, that’s only because songwriting comes so natural to him.
While deconstructing songwriting might be a challenge to the great Beatle, sometimes there’s a lot to learn simply by watching the greats do it.
And that’s the biggest takeaway in R.J. Cutler’s AppleTV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry: Watching how the 7x Grammy winner and her producer/songwriting brother Finneas O’Connell, also a 6x Grammy winner, tick, producing a mindblowing sonic sound straight from their messy, Angelino recording studio bedroom.
Cutler turns the camera on, and the feeling is that we’re getting an honest take on this edgy performer on her upward rocketship; she’s got nothing to hide as she ultimately reveals something tragic about her...
- 6/2/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has emerged the winner of a bake-off for a documentary about the life and times of media mogul Martha Stewart.
Oscar-nominated director R.J. Cutler had been shopping a sizzle reel of the all-access look at the history of America’s preeminent hostess in recent weeks. Netflix closed the deal late last week, according to insiders.
While specifics are still unknown, the film will foreseeably follow Stewart’s early life in Jersey City as a babysitter to famed New York Yankees players Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra (legend has it some of her first ever party-planning gigs were for their kids), to teen model and eventual media titan. The massive growth of her Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia empire and 2004 prison stint for insider trading will also presumably be on the table.
Cutler will also serve as producer, alongside Trevor Smith, Jane Cha Cutler and Alina Cho. Industrial Media’s This...
Oscar-nominated director R.J. Cutler had been shopping a sizzle reel of the all-access look at the history of America’s preeminent hostess in recent weeks. Netflix closed the deal late last week, according to insiders.
While specifics are still unknown, the film will foreseeably follow Stewart’s early life in Jersey City as a babysitter to famed New York Yankees players Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra (legend has it some of her first ever party-planning gigs were for their kids), to teen model and eventual media titan. The massive growth of her Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia empire and 2004 prison stint for insider trading will also presumably be on the table.
Cutler will also serve as producer, alongside Trevor Smith, Jane Cha Cutler and Alina Cho. Industrial Media’s This...
- 5/24/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: R.J. Cutler will direct and produce the documentary series Big Vape, an adaptation of Jamie Ducharme’s upcoming nonfiction book about the rise of the controversial e-cigarette company Juul. Cutler just directed the Showtime docu Belushi and has upcoming Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry which will be released February 26 on Apple TV+.
Cutler’s This Machine is teamed on the series with Amblin Television and Time Studios to chronicle the rise of Juul from a scrappy tech start-up to a multibillion-dollar tobacco company that at one point controlled 72% of the market. This will be no puff piece: Juul’s rise, and the high nicotine concentration and flavored products, helped spark what top health authorities labeled an epidemic of youth addiction.
Amblin optioned the book last year. Executive producing with Cutler are Amblin Partners’ co-presidents of television Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (The Americans), This Machine’s Trevor...
Cutler’s This Machine is teamed on the series with Amblin Television and Time Studios to chronicle the rise of Juul from a scrappy tech start-up to a multibillion-dollar tobacco company that at one point controlled 72% of the market. This will be no puff piece: Juul’s rise, and the high nicotine concentration and flavored products, helped spark what top health authorities labeled an epidemic of youth addiction.
Amblin optioned the book last year. Executive producing with Cutler are Amblin Partners’ co-presidents of television Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (The Americans), This Machine’s Trevor...
- 2/18/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
As Americans are painfully aware these days, democracy is messy business. Following her fascinating 2014 documentary Democrats, about the work of creating a new constitution in Zimbabwe, Camilla Nielsson’s sweeping President explores the nation’s second democratic election, in 2018, through the eyes of the opposition party. The legacy of Robert Mugabe looms large in the ruling Zanu-pf party, which controls all manner of life in the nation despite inroads made by the liberal Mdc (Movement for Democratic Change) and its presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa. Challenging incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa, the film shifts modes between fly-on-the-wall picture about the inner workings of a campaign and an on-the-ground study in real election rigging, wherein the Zanu-pf use all manner—from soft approaches like food giveaways to disturbing allegations of sexual violence against poll workers.
The film is a straightforward act of courage by Danish journalist-turned-filmmaker Nielsson, whose film Democrats was considered pornographic and...
The film is a straightforward act of courage by Danish journalist-turned-filmmaker Nielsson, whose film Democrats was considered pornographic and...
- 2/4/2021
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Apple TV+ has released the first official trailer for “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” directed by award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, which will premiere in theaters and on Apple TV+ in February 2021. The film marks the second foray for Apple TV+ into the music documentary sphere, following Spike Jonze’s well-received “Beastie Boys Story,” which premiered on the streaming service and had a limited theatrical run in April.
An early teaser featured footage of Eilish as a toddler, sitting at a piano gleefully tapping out a few notes. Apple TV’s initial announcement of the project focused on the singer/songwriter’s jam-packed 2019, which saw the release of her debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” which won the 18-year-old Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s 62nd Grammy Awards in January.
An early teaser featured footage of Eilish as a toddler, sitting at a piano gleefully tapping out a few notes. Apple TV’s initial announcement of the project focused on the singer/songwriter’s jam-packed 2019, which saw the release of her debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” which won the 18-year-old Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s 62nd Grammy Awards in January.
- 12/15/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The world got to know John Belushi’s eyebrows before we got to know the man. They projected his innermost confusion, telegraphed his thought processes, and misdirected his most sincere intentions. Showtime’s heartfelt and intimate documentary, Belushi, opens with clips from the comic icon’s screen test for Saturday Night Live. Armed with just his face, he lets those eyebrows steal the scene. They cajole, caress, and careen across the bottom of his brow, culminating in a series of aerobic stretches with a gymnast’s flair. Belushi didn’t have to crack a joke, he barely had to say a word, and yet showed a world of possibilities within a few inches of cranial space. Belushi really was a lot like his decathlon character in the Little Chocolate Donuts skit. All he needed was some sugar to keep him going. The documentary shows Belushi really was born that way,...
- 11/20/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: As his superb Showtime documentary Belushi premieres next month and with Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry upcoming from Apple TV+, R.J. Cutler has launched the production company This Machine, with an investment from Industrial Media. Cutler sealed the deal with Industrial Media’s CEO Eli Holzman and President Aaron Saidman.
In the new company, Industrial Media will have an ownership stake. Producer Elise Pearlstein will join Cutler’s This Machine as EVP of Documentaries, and Devon Hammonds — who had been Industrial Media SVP of Development & Current Programming – East Coast — will now serve in a dual role as EVP of Non-Fiction TV for This Machine. Hammonds’ focus will be returning series development for the new company. Trevor Smith, Cutler’s longtime producing partner, will serve as producer for the company’s original content.
In in its first talent deal, 14-time Emmy Award-nominee Jane Cha Cutler has...
In the new company, Industrial Media will have an ownership stake. Producer Elise Pearlstein will join Cutler’s This Machine as EVP of Documentaries, and Devon Hammonds — who had been Industrial Media SVP of Development & Current Programming – East Coast — will now serve in a dual role as EVP of Non-Fiction TV for This Machine. Hammonds’ focus will be returning series development for the new company. Trevor Smith, Cutler’s longtime producing partner, will serve as producer for the company’s original content.
In in its first talent deal, 14-time Emmy Award-nominee Jane Cha Cutler has...
- 10/19/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
R.J. Cutler’s “Belushi” charts the rise and fall of “Animal House” star John Belushi without dwelling on the particulars of his tragic death of a drug overdose at 33.
“Drugs and his overdose have become the thing that many people focus on in John’s story, but that’s not what I was interested in,” said Cutler. “I wasn’t interested in his death. I was interested in his life.”
Instead, the documentary is a celebration of Belushi’s anarchic spirit — the way he could commander an “SNL” skit with the cock of an eyebrow and send it spinning off in fresh and revolutionary directions. Chevy Chase may have been the late night show’s first breakout star, but it was Belushi who provided the sketch comedy program with its rebel yell.
Cutler relies heavily on footage of Belushi’s “SNL” tenure and work in films like “The Blues Brothers...
“Drugs and his overdose have become the thing that many people focus on in John’s story, but that’s not what I was interested in,” said Cutler. “I wasn’t interested in his death. I was interested in his life.”
Instead, the documentary is a celebration of Belushi’s anarchic spirit — the way he could commander an “SNL” skit with the cock of an eyebrow and send it spinning off in fresh and revolutionary directions. Chevy Chase may have been the late night show’s first breakout star, but it was Belushi who provided the sketch comedy program with its rebel yell.
Cutler relies heavily on footage of Belushi’s “SNL” tenure and work in films like “The Blues Brothers...
- 10/16/2020
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
At the beginning of the documentary “Belushi,” author Tanner Colby is heard in a telephone conversation explaining to an interview subject that he’s talking to people about John Belushi because “No one’s ever done a real biography of John as a performer … I just want to give a full portrait of him as a human being.”
Those interviews from Colby, which were used for a 2005 book about the comedian and actor, are now at the heart of R.J. Cutler’s nonfiction film “Belushi,” which premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival on Wednesday and will also play at the AFI Fest before heading to Showtime on Nov. 22. And while you could say that the movie gets in the neighborhood of being a full portrait of the human being, it would be a stretch to call it a biography of John Belushi the performer – because at a certain point,...
Those interviews from Colby, which were used for a 2005 book about the comedian and actor, are now at the heart of R.J. Cutler’s nonfiction film “Belushi,” which premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival on Wednesday and will also play at the AFI Fest before heading to Showtime on Nov. 22. And while you could say that the movie gets in the neighborhood of being a full portrait of the human being, it would be a stretch to call it a biography of John Belushi the performer – because at a certain point,...
- 10/14/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Apple TV+ acquired its second music documentary in “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” Apple announced on Monday, and the film will debut early next year.
The documentary will center on the 18-year-old musician in the time after she released “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” her breakout debut album, in March 2019. It is scheduled to hit theaters and Apple TV+ sometime in February 2021. “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” directed by R.J. Cutler, comes from from Apple Original Films, in association with Interscope Films, Darkroom, This Machine and Lighthouse Management & Media.
Eilish’s debut record was an immediate critical and commercial success and significantly raised her international profile; she won four Grammys in 2019, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Apple TV+ entered the music documentary space with Spike Jonze’s well-received “Beastie Boys Story,...
The documentary will center on the 18-year-old musician in the time after she released “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” her breakout debut album, in March 2019. It is scheduled to hit theaters and Apple TV+ sometime in February 2021. “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” directed by R.J. Cutler, comes from from Apple Original Films, in association with Interscope Films, Darkroom, This Machine and Lighthouse Management & Media.
Eilish’s debut record was an immediate critical and commercial success and significantly raised her international profile; she won four Grammys in 2019, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Apple TV+ entered the music documentary space with Spike Jonze’s well-received “Beastie Boys Story,...
- 9/29/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
A feature documentary on pop star Billie Eilish titled “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry” is coming to Apple TV+ and theaters in February 2021, Eilish and Apple announced Monday.
The film is directed by R.J. Cutler, who directed “The War Room” and the recent “Belushi,” and it charts the short but meteoric rise of the teenage Eilish, including the release of her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” and its numerous Grammy wins.
The documentary is from Apple Original Films in association with Interscope Films, Darkroom, This Machine and Lighthouse Management & Media.
Even before the pandemic broke out, Eilish has had a gigantic 2020. Her debut album won Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammys in January. She then performed a cover of The Beatles...
The film is directed by R.J. Cutler, who directed “The War Room” and the recent “Belushi,” and it charts the short but meteoric rise of the teenage Eilish, including the release of her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” and its numerous Grammy wins.
The documentary is from Apple Original Films in association with Interscope Films, Darkroom, This Machine and Lighthouse Management & Media.
Even before the pandemic broke out, Eilish has had a gigantic 2020. Her debut album won Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammys in January. She then performed a cover of The Beatles...
- 9/28/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Josh Braun, producer of some of the best documentaries in the world, joins Josh and Joe to discuss the movies that have influenced him throughout his life.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Man On Wire (2008)
The Cove (2009)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Encounters At The End of the World (2007)
Winnebago Man (2009)
Spellbound (2002)
Supersize Me (2004)
Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
Apollo 11 (2019)
The Edge of Democracy (2019)
Finding Vivian Maier (2013)
Searching For Sugarman (2012)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Frat House (1998)
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
The Exorcist (1973)
Go West (1940)
A Night In Casablanca (1946)
Hello Down There (1974)
What’s Up Doc? (1972)
El Topo (1970)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Female Trouble (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Monterey Pop (1968)
Grey Gardens (1975)
Grey Gardens (2009)
Titicut Follies (1967)
To Have And Have Not (1944)
All About Eve...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Man On Wire (2008)
The Cove (2009)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Encounters At The End of the World (2007)
Winnebago Man (2009)
Spellbound (2002)
Supersize Me (2004)
Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
Apollo 11 (2019)
The Edge of Democracy (2019)
Finding Vivian Maier (2013)
Searching For Sugarman (2012)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Frat House (1998)
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
The Exorcist (1973)
Go West (1940)
A Night In Casablanca (1946)
Hello Down There (1974)
What’s Up Doc? (1972)
El Topo (1970)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Female Trouble (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Monterey Pop (1968)
Grey Gardens (1975)
Grey Gardens (2009)
Titicut Follies (1967)
To Have And Have Not (1944)
All About Eve...
- 7/21/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: Imagine Documentaries and Emmy-winning director-producer R.J. Cutler have teamed up on a new four-part true-crime docuseries that pulls back the curtain on New York’s most infamous jewel thief, Jack Roland Murphy, aka “Murf the Surf.”
Cutler is writing it and will direct. His docus include The War Room, A Perfect Candidate, The September Issue, The World According to Dick Cheney, Thin and Listen to Me Marlon. His nonfiction TV credits include American High, Freshman Diaries and 30 Days, and he conceived and directed the series Nashville and the film If I Stay and generated The Oval Office Tapes. His docuseries Dear… is streaming on Apple TV+, and he’s got a November Showtime airdate for Belushi, with the musical drama Bronzeville right behind it. Cutler also is the producer-director of the untitled Billie Eilish docu for Apple TV+ He has won two Emmys.
Murphy has quite a track record of his own,...
Cutler is writing it and will direct. His docus include The War Room, A Perfect Candidate, The September Issue, The World According to Dick Cheney, Thin and Listen to Me Marlon. His nonfiction TV credits include American High, Freshman Diaries and 30 Days, and he conceived and directed the series Nashville and the film If I Stay and generated The Oval Office Tapes. His docuseries Dear… is streaming on Apple TV+, and he’s got a November Showtime airdate for Belushi, with the musical drama Bronzeville right behind it. Cutler also is the producer-director of the untitled Billie Eilish docu for Apple TV+ He has won two Emmys.
Murphy has quite a track record of his own,...
- 7/17/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The director of Sergio and many docs talks about docs and movies taken from true stories.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Sergio (2009)
Sergio (2020)
Reds (1981)
The Two Popes (2019)
Rules Don’t Apply (2016)
Bulworth (1998)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Innerspace (1987)
Ishtar (1987)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Man On Wire (2008)
The Fog of War (2003)
American Dharma (2018)
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)
The Killing Fields (1984)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
Under Fire (1983)
Salvador (1986)
The Quiet American (2002)
The Quiet American (1958)
A Private War (2018)
The War Room (1993)
The Final Year (2017)
Independence Day (1996)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Bloodsport (1988)
Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)
When We Were Kings (1996)
Soul Power (2008)
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)
Before Night Falls (2000)
At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
American Factory (2019)
Dina (2017)
Honeyland (2019)
The Act of Killing (2012)
The English Patient (1996)
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Purple Noon (1960)
Other Notable Items
Sergio Aragonés
Wagner Moura
Narcos TV...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Sergio (2009)
Sergio (2020)
Reds (1981)
The Two Popes (2019)
Rules Don’t Apply (2016)
Bulworth (1998)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Innerspace (1987)
Ishtar (1987)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Man On Wire (2008)
The Fog of War (2003)
American Dharma (2018)
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)
The Killing Fields (1984)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
Under Fire (1983)
Salvador (1986)
The Quiet American (2002)
The Quiet American (1958)
A Private War (2018)
The War Room (1993)
The Final Year (2017)
Independence Day (1996)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Bloodsport (1988)
Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)
When We Were Kings (1996)
Soul Power (2008)
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)
Before Night Falls (2000)
At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
American Factory (2019)
Dina (2017)
Honeyland (2019)
The Act of Killing (2012)
The English Patient (1996)
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Purple Noon (1960)
Other Notable Items
Sergio Aragonés
Wagner Moura
Narcos TV...
- 7/14/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: Charles Booker, the Democratic Senate candidate who narrowly lost to former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath in a close race in Kentucky, is set to have his campaign documented by American Relapse and Bernie Blackout director Pat McGee.
Booker’s campaign was gaining steam right up until he lost to McGrath by a narrow margin this week.
McGee has been embedded with the Booker campaign since the Kentucky House of Representatives member handed him access during the past few weeks.
Booker, who was running on a platform of universal health care, a Green New Deal to tackle climate change, systemic criminal justice reform and universal basic income, only started his campaign in January and was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon.
His campaign bounce to win the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky came during the Covid-19 crisis,...
Booker’s campaign was gaining steam right up until he lost to McGrath by a narrow margin this week.
McGee has been embedded with the Booker campaign since the Kentucky House of Representatives member handed him access during the past few weeks.
Booker, who was running on a platform of universal health care, a Green New Deal to tackle climate change, systemic criminal justice reform and universal basic income, only started his campaign in January and was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon.
His campaign bounce to win the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky came during the Covid-19 crisis,...
- 7/2/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Rose Byrne’s character in Jon Stewart’s political satire “Irresistible” is a mix of Mary Matalin and Kellyanne Conway, a potent blend of old school Republican strategist with a new age Trumpian media wrangler.
It’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from her other recent portrayal of Gloria Steinem in “Mrs. America,” but Byrne said of “Irresistible” that she had fun playing her character Faith Brewster, and she was encouraged by Stewart to always keep her performance “playful.”
“Someone like Faith is a true political animal. She lives with some blood on her hands, she loves the fight, she loves the game, so that’s her kind of drug I think, a true political beast,” Byrne told TheWrap. “Jon was always telling me to just make her playful in her position. She loves the element of the game of it.”
Also Read: Steve Carell Tries to Save...
It’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from her other recent portrayal of Gloria Steinem in “Mrs. America,” but Byrne said of “Irresistible” that she had fun playing her character Faith Brewster, and she was encouraged by Stewart to always keep her performance “playful.”
“Someone like Faith is a true political animal. She lives with some blood on her hands, she loves the fight, she loves the game, so that’s her kind of drug I think, a true political beast,” Byrne told TheWrap. “Jon was always telling me to just make her playful in her position. She loves the element of the game of it.”
Also Read: Steve Carell Tries to Save...
- 6/25/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
At the virtual Cannes market, the Exchange is pre-selling political thriller “The Independent,” the narrative feature debut of twice Emmy-nominated director Amy Rice, starring “The Big Sick” star Kumail Nanjiani. Variety spoke to Rice about the film.
In “The Independent,” America’s first viable independent presidential candidate is poised for victory when an idealistic journalist uncovers a conspiracy, which places the fate of the election and the country in his hands.
Rice, whose credits include HBO’s “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” is scheduled to shoot the movie next year. The screenplay is written by two-time Black List scribe Evan Parter, who is writing the upcoming Amazon Studios Original feature about former Nixon administration staffer John Dean, starring Chris Pine.
Rice, who describes herself as a “political junkie,” says: “It is rare these days to come across such a thought-provoking political thriller, so the second I finished...
In “The Independent,” America’s first viable independent presidential candidate is poised for victory when an idealistic journalist uncovers a conspiracy, which places the fate of the election and the country in his hands.
Rice, whose credits include HBO’s “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” is scheduled to shoot the movie next year. The screenplay is written by two-time Black List scribe Evan Parter, who is writing the upcoming Amazon Studios Original feature about former Nixon administration staffer John Dean, starring Chris Pine.
Rice, who describes herself as a “political junkie,” says: “It is rare these days to come across such a thought-provoking political thriller, so the second I finished...
- 6/25/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Writer-director Brad J. Silverman’s “Selfie Dad” is a pleasantly predictable faith-based dramedy that has been scheduled and marketed for family viewing over Father’s Day weekend on VOD platforms. As it turns out, however, the timing of its release might actually serve to expand the film’s appeal slightly beyond the usual target audience for similar fare. Indeed, in the context of recent real-life events and Black Lives Matter protests, certain elements of Silverman’s narrative give his film, if only inadvertently, a slightly sharper edge than even he likely intended.
Christian standup comic Michael Jr. plays, credibly and creditably, Ben Marcus, an editor at an Los Angeles production house who, several years earlier, walked away from a promising career as a comedian. The movie begins with a snippet from one of his decades-earlier routines, in which Ben, a Black man, recalls how easily he rattled an older white...
Christian standup comic Michael Jr. plays, credibly and creditably, Ben Marcus, an editor at an Los Angeles production house who, several years earlier, walked away from a promising career as a comedian. The movie begins with a snippet from one of his decades-earlier routines, in which Ben, a Black man, recalls how easily he rattled an older white...
- 6/18/2020
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Every summer, more than 1,000 teens swarm the Texas State Capitol to attend Boys State, the annual American Legion-sponsored leadership conference where these incipient politicians divide into rival parties, the Nationalists and the Federalists, and attempt to build a mock government from the ground up. In 2017, the program attracted attention for all the wrong reasons (the attendees voted for Texas to secede from the United States), which gave filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss an idea: What would it take to orchestrate a deep dive into the subsequent next session? Is there a right way to cover the testosterone- and Ritalin-fueled event?
One of the biggest sales of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival — for a documentary, no less — “Boys State” represents a revolution in vérité filmmaking, as McBaine and Moss (who collaborated on “The Overnighters”) . Like “Spellbound” and “Science Fair,” the film is essentially the feature-length equivalent of an elimination-style reality TV show,...
One of the biggest sales of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival — for a documentary, no less — “Boys State” represents a revolution in vérité filmmaking, as McBaine and Moss (who collaborated on “The Overnighters”) . Like “Spellbound” and “Science Fair,” the film is essentially the feature-length equivalent of an elimination-style reality TV show,...
- 2/2/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In the doc world, Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker are a legendary filmmaking combo, and their presence has been felt at Idfa since the festival first began. The pair attended regularly over the years, but this year, sadly, only Hegedus was able to make the trip, having bade farewell to her longterm partner just a few months before. It was expected, then, that Hegedus’s Film Talk would be a sombre affair, but the filmmaker spoke brightly and articulately about the pair’s work together, opening with a fascinating clip from Pennebaker’s 1962 film “Jane,” a portrait/sketch of Jane Fonda’s disastrous attempt to conquer the Broadway stage, at the age of 25.
Speaking to writer Pamela Cohn, Hegedus said she came to the film world almost by accident. “When I grew up,” she said, “I didn’t really know that women could be filmmakers. I mean, I’d heard...
Speaking to writer Pamela Cohn, Hegedus said she came to the film world almost by accident. “When I grew up,” she said, “I didn’t really know that women could be filmmakers. I mean, I’d heard...
- 11/27/2019
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
There’s a scene in D.A. Pennebaker’s “Original Cast Album: Company” that unites all Elaine Stritch fans. Of course, younger audiences know her Emmy-winning turn as Jack Donaghy’s sharp-tongued mother in “30 Rock,” and Broadway fans will never forget her Tony-winning one woman show “Elaine Stritch at Liberty,” the film version of which incidentally united her with Pennebaker decades later.
But it is her increasingly desperate attempts to record the most famous number of her career, the 11 o’clock number “The Ladies Who Lunch” from Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” that Pennebaker captured and edited so sensationally, that shows a rare peek behind the curtain at the ferocious talent at her most vulnerable.
Less Broadway-inclined cinephiles may be unfamiliar with “Original Cast Album: Company.” The documentary legend, who died over the weekend at the age of 94, was known as a groundbreaking figure in the evolution of documentary filmmaking, helming...
But it is her increasingly desperate attempts to record the most famous number of her career, the 11 o’clock number “The Ladies Who Lunch” from Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” that Pennebaker captured and edited so sensationally, that shows a rare peek behind the curtain at the ferocious talent at her most vulnerable.
Less Broadway-inclined cinephiles may be unfamiliar with “Original Cast Album: Company.” The documentary legend, who died over the weekend at the age of 94, was known as a groundbreaking figure in the evolution of documentary filmmaking, helming...
- 8/5/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Andrew Rossi honours Da Pennebaker: "His films were so poetic and historically important, putting him on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians like Maysles, Wiseman and Varda." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Donn Alan Pennebaker, grand master of Direct Cinema, died at the age of 94 on August 1 at his home in Sag Harbor, New York. He is best known for the documentaries Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back, Monterey Pop, and The War Room, co-directed with his wife Chris Hegedus, for which they received a Best Documentary Oscar nomination. Da Pennebaker was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2013 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Doc NYC in 2014.
This morning, I contacted Andrew Rossi, director of The First Monday In May, Bronx Gothic, and Page One: Inside The New York Times, and he sent the following remembrance in honour of D.A. Pennebaker.
Andrew Rossi: "Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers.
Donn Alan Pennebaker, grand master of Direct Cinema, died at the age of 94 on August 1 at his home in Sag Harbor, New York. He is best known for the documentaries Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back, Monterey Pop, and The War Room, co-directed with his wife Chris Hegedus, for which they received a Best Documentary Oscar nomination. Da Pennebaker was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2013 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Doc NYC in 2014.
This morning, I contacted Andrew Rossi, director of The First Monday In May, Bronx Gothic, and Page One: Inside The New York Times, and he sent the following remembrance in honour of D.A. Pennebaker.
Andrew Rossi: "Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers.
- 8/4/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze and Andrew Rossi
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Robert Greene is a documentary filmmaker whose credits include the Sundance-acclaimed “Bisbee ‘17” and “Kate Plays Christine.” He teaches at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The first word that comes to mind while watching D.A. Pennebaker’s 1953 debut film “Daybreak Express” is love – love of light, love of movement, love of music, love of ideas. In five wildly inventive minutes, the great filmmaker, who died earlier this week in his home at the age of 94, uses various cinematic techniques to capture and recreate the rush of a New York City subway commute. Edited to an exuberant score by Duke Ellington, “Daybreak Express” was part of a groundbreaking group of films that revealed the abstract and musical potential of the observational camera. It was created by a man who loved the act of making things and loved pushing the documentary form forward.
A few years later,...
The first word that comes to mind while watching D.A. Pennebaker’s 1953 debut film “Daybreak Express” is love – love of light, love of movement, love of music, love of ideas. In five wildly inventive minutes, the great filmmaker, who died earlier this week in his home at the age of 94, uses various cinematic techniques to capture and recreate the rush of a New York City subway commute. Edited to an exuberant score by Duke Ellington, “Daybreak Express” was part of a groundbreaking group of films that revealed the abstract and musical potential of the observational camera. It was created by a man who loved the act of making things and loved pushing the documentary form forward.
A few years later,...
- 8/4/2019
- by Robert Greene
- Indiewire
by Glenn Dunks
D.A. Pennebaker, aka Donn Alan, the legend of documentary who famously captured the growing counter culture music scene, American presidents and a particularly memorable Original Cast Recording, died this weekend at age 94.
Like many of his contemporaries who are today regarded as among the most influential of the form like Albert Maysles and Frederick Wiseman, Pennebaker was never really embraced by the Academy. He was nominated alongside his wife and frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus in 1994 for The War Room about the 1992 presidential campaign for Bill Clinton, but was eventually awarded an honorary statue in 2013 for his undeniably immense contribution to film...
D.A. Pennebaker, aka Donn Alan, the legend of documentary who famously captured the growing counter culture music scene, American presidents and a particularly memorable Original Cast Recording, died this weekend at age 94.
Like many of his contemporaries who are today regarded as among the most influential of the form like Albert Maysles and Frederick Wiseman, Pennebaker was never really embraced by the Academy. He was nominated alongside his wife and frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus in 1994 for The War Room about the 1992 presidential campaign for Bill Clinton, but was eventually awarded an honorary statue in 2013 for his undeniably immense contribution to film...
- 8/4/2019
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Tony Sokol Aug 3, 2019
D.A. Pennebaker made truth musical and brought reality to music.
Legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker died of natural causes at his home at Sag Harbor, Long Island, on August 1, according to Variety. The director and cinematographer of the 1967 Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back, as well as the films Monterey Pop (1968) and The War Room (1993) was 94. He is survived by his wife, filmmaker Chris Hegedus, who was his most consistent artistic collaborator. He was working on his memoir.
Pennebaker's influence on the art of the documentary is immeasurable, but evidentiary. Paradise Lost, Making a Murderer, Fahrenheit 911 and Madonna's concert film Truth or Dare all share the D.A. DNA.
Donn Alan Pennebaker was born in Evanston, Illinois, on July 15, 1925. He was an engineer in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. Before he turned his attention to the camera, Pennebaker attended MIT and...
D.A. Pennebaker made truth musical and brought reality to music.
Legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker died of natural causes at his home at Sag Harbor, Long Island, on August 1, according to Variety. The director and cinematographer of the 1967 Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back, as well as the films Monterey Pop (1968) and The War Room (1993) was 94. He is survived by his wife, filmmaker Chris Hegedus, who was his most consistent artistic collaborator. He was working on his memoir.
Pennebaker's influence on the art of the documentary is immeasurable, but evidentiary. Paradise Lost, Making a Murderer, Fahrenheit 911 and Madonna's concert film Truth or Dare all share the D.A. DNA.
Donn Alan Pennebaker was born in Evanston, Illinois, on July 15, 1925. He was an engineer in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. Before he turned his attention to the camera, Pennebaker attended MIT and...
- 8/4/2019
- Den of Geek
D.A. Pennebaker, the documentary filmmaker who helped pioneer cinema verité in films like the 1967 Bob Dylan film “Don’t Look Back” and 1993’s “The War Room,” died Thursday at his home at age 94, Pennebaker’s son and executive producer and distributor for nearly all Pennebaker Hegedus films, Frazer Pennebaker, told TheWrap.
The celebrated cinematographer and director received an honorary Oscar in 2013 for his work, and an Oscar nomination, with Chris Hegedus, for “The War Room,” an inside look at the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton that helped make a star of Clinton’s then communications director and current ABC News chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos.
Pennebaker first rose to fame in the early ’60s after he and his colleague Richard Leacock developed one of the first fully portable 16mm synchronized camera and sound recording systems which revolutionized filmmaking.
Also Read: Harold Prince, Legendary Broadway Director and Producer, Dies at 91
His innovative...
The celebrated cinematographer and director received an honorary Oscar in 2013 for his work, and an Oscar nomination, with Chris Hegedus, for “The War Room,” an inside look at the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton that helped make a star of Clinton’s then communications director and current ABC News chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos.
Pennebaker first rose to fame in the early ’60s after he and his colleague Richard Leacock developed one of the first fully portable 16mm synchronized camera and sound recording systems which revolutionized filmmaking.
Also Read: Harold Prince, Legendary Broadway Director and Producer, Dies at 91
His innovative...
- 8/3/2019
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
D.A. Pennebaker, a champion of the cinéma-vérité approach to documentary, which emphasized intimate portraits of its subjects, died Thursday from natural causes, his son Frazer confirmed to Rolling Stone. He was 94.
Chronicling rock stars and political operatives, Pennebaker sought to strip away the artifice — both in nonfiction films and from the famous figures who populated his movies — to craft deceptively casual snapshots of people we thought we knew. Whether in Dont Look Back (about Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England) or The War Room (a look behind the scenes of...
Chronicling rock stars and political operatives, Pennebaker sought to strip away the artifice — both in nonfiction films and from the famous figures who populated his movies — to craft deceptively casual snapshots of people we thought we knew. Whether in Dont Look Back (about Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England) or The War Room (a look behind the scenes of...
- 8/3/2019
- by Tim Grierson
- Rollingstone.com
Da Pennebaker, the Academy Award-nominated director of 60 documentaries whose career encompassed more than 50 years, has died at the age of 94. A seminal figure of the cinema vérité movement, Pennebaker helmed such nonfiction masterpieces as “Monterey Pop,” “The War Room,” and “Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back,” bringing his canny eye upon everything from 1960s counterculture to the urgent political issues of the day. He is survived by his wife and frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus. Pennebaker died of natural causes on August 1, according to his son, Frazer Pennebaker.
In tribute to the late filmmaker, IndieWire has assembled five must-see films from Pennebaker’s prolific catalogue.
“Primary” (1960)
Pennebaker edited Robert Drew’s groundbreaking 1960 “Primary,” which plunges us into the 1960 Wisconsin primary election face-off between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, as they vie for the presidency. With its handheld camerawork and intimate proximity to its subjects, this was a groundbreaking moment for documentary film,...
In tribute to the late filmmaker, IndieWire has assembled five must-see films from Pennebaker’s prolific catalogue.
“Primary” (1960)
Pennebaker edited Robert Drew’s groundbreaking 1960 “Primary,” which plunges us into the 1960 Wisconsin primary election face-off between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, as they vie for the presidency. With its handheld camerawork and intimate proximity to its subjects, this was a groundbreaking moment for documentary film,...
- 8/3/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
D.A. Pennebaker, a cinematographer, director and master of cinema verite known for the 1967 documentary Don’t Look Back, has died. He was 94.
Don’t Look Back followed Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England and the film picked up a string of awards. It was deemed culturally significant and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1998.
Pennebaker’s other films included the 1973 David Bowie concert movie Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, and the 2000 film Down From the Mountain, about the musicians who performed the songs in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The iconic filmmaker was nominated for an Oscar, along with his wife Chris Hegedus, for the 1994 doc The War Room about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Pennebaker received an honorary Oscar in 2013.
He and Hegedus made most of their films together over the past several decades. They shared...
Don’t Look Back followed Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England and the film picked up a string of awards. It was deemed culturally significant and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1998.
Pennebaker’s other films included the 1973 David Bowie concert movie Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, and the 2000 film Down From the Mountain, about the musicians who performed the songs in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The iconic filmmaker was nominated for an Oscar, along with his wife Chris Hegedus, for the 1994 doc The War Room about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Pennebaker received an honorary Oscar in 2013.
He and Hegedus made most of their films together over the past several decades. They shared...
- 8/3/2019
- by Anita Bennett
- Deadline Film + TV
D.A. Pennebaker, a director and cinematographer known for his documentaries, including the classic “Dont Look Back” (1967), “Monterey Pop” (1968) and “The War Room” (1993) and “Elaine Stritch at Liberty” (2002), died Thursday night of natural causes, Variety has confirmed. He was 94.
Pennebaker’s many other films included the 1973 David Bowie concert film “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” 1989 Depeche Mode road movie “101” and “Down From the Mountain” (2000), about the musicians who performed the songs in the Coen Brothers’ film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Pennebaker won an honorary Oscar in 2013.
In a 1997 article the U.K.’s the Independent described Pennebaker as arguably the preeminent chronicler of ’60s counterculture.
Pennebaker did not reserve his camera exclusively for the musical arena, however.
He and his wife, Chris Hegedus, with whom he made most of his films in the past several decades, were Oscar nominated in 1994 for best documentary for “The War Room,” a witty,...
Pennebaker’s many other films included the 1973 David Bowie concert film “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” 1989 Depeche Mode road movie “101” and “Down From the Mountain” (2000), about the musicians who performed the songs in the Coen Brothers’ film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Pennebaker won an honorary Oscar in 2013.
In a 1997 article the U.K.’s the Independent described Pennebaker as arguably the preeminent chronicler of ’60s counterculture.
Pennebaker did not reserve his camera exclusively for the musical arena, however.
He and his wife, Chris Hegedus, with whom he made most of his films in the past several decades, were Oscar nominated in 1994 for best documentary for “The War Room,” a witty,...
- 8/3/2019
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
D.A. Pennebaker, documentary’s master of cinema verite who unassumingly brought viewers inside Bob Dylan’s mythical 1965 tour of England in Don’t Look Back and Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in The War Room, has died. He was 94.
Pennebaker, also renowned for directing the fascinating 1970 film that documented the original cast recording of Company, Stephen Sondheim’s fabled Broadway musical, died Thursday night at his home on Long Island, journalist Roger Friedman reported.
Survivors include his fellow documentarian and wife, Chris Hegedus, with whom he worked for more than three decades. They married in 1982.
The first documentary ...
Pennebaker, also renowned for directing the fascinating 1970 film that documented the original cast recording of Company, Stephen Sondheim’s fabled Broadway musical, died Thursday night at his home on Long Island, journalist Roger Friedman reported.
Survivors include his fellow documentarian and wife, Chris Hegedus, with whom he worked for more than three decades. They married in 1982.
The first documentary ...
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